To paraphrase John F. Kennedy: Ask not what your neighbourhood can do for you - ask what you can do for your neighbourhood.
Mark Weiser, 38, is asking.
Five years ago, Mr. Weiser returned to Midland Park, where he grew up, after living briefly in other areas of Scarborough. The heavily treed neighbourhood of mid-century-modern back-splits and two-storeys is bounded by the Birkdale Ravine to the east, Midland to the west, Ellesmere to the north and Lawrence to the south.
He didn't like what he saw. In addition to a recent rash of "taggers" scrawling their urban nomenclature all over fences and city infrastructure, it wasn't as friendly a place as he had remembered.
"I would see people walking the streets and they wouldn't make eye contact, they wouldn't say hello, they crossed the street when they saw you coming and I just thought, 'That's weird, that doesn't feel like the neighbourhood I grew up in.' "
So, he decided to revive the dormant Midland Park Community Association, which hasn't assembled for at least a decade. Not only does he want to tackle the graffiti problem, he hopes the group makes friends out of neighbours, since he laments the fact that he doesn't know who lives just a few doors down.
Lee Garrison, 50, could relate. His community group, the Don Vale Cabbagetown Residents Association, was resurrected just four years ago. It was first formed in 1967 to prevent the massive St. James Town development from hopping across Parliament Street to clear-cut its way through their leafy enclave of Victorian homes.
When that battle was won and other issues were settled, interest dropped little by little as the neighbourhood stabilized and property values went up. Eventually, the ratepayers' group went into a long slumber and, in its absence, issues such as vandalism, crack houses and public safety were dealt with on an ad hoc basis by small, temporary groups, Mr. Garrison says. People also went to the Cabbagetown Preservation Association, he adds, but that was of little use since its mandate is chiefly one of an architectural and educational nature.
In the early part of this decade, he says, "a lot of us started to realize that we needed a more cohesive strategy" so, in early 2004, the group was reborn after informal polling had determined there was significant interest. Now, he says, residents no longer feel "impotent" since the "chaos of voices" has been replaced by one united voice that lobbies on their behalf at city hall and elsewhere.
At the group's first annual general meeting, members nominated a board and created bylaws to give the new organization a structure. These were extremely important steps, he says, needed to counter a perception that it was a "fly-by-night group of people that are pissed off about something." Mr. Garrison, who has lived in Cabbagetown since his teens, was elected president of the group last May.
"I think that gave people a sense of confidence that this is something worth investing in. Specific issues can be lighting rods and help, but I think what people want to know - long term - is there is some stability here."
Of course, in those first few years, most of the items addressed were related to crime and safety, since those are the issues (other than development) that usually bring residents together. Today, however, Mr. Garrison boasts that they're no longer the top concerns of his 500-plus members.
According to his surveys, "there's much more discussion around the vitality and economics of Parliament Street and what do we do about streets and traffic," he says. "I'd like to think that it's a combination of the police doing things differently, the fact that the residents' association has created a forum, and people are a lot more vocal and observant."
But what about Midland Park? Mr. Weiser certainly will have his hands full with finding a sanctioned space for spray painters (which he is working on), with performing community safety audits and with trying to rekindle interest in the Neighbourhood Watch program, but what will keep member-households interested once those issues are resolved?
"It's a challenge," Mr. Garrison admits. "I guess my advice is to dedicate somebody on the board or in the group to pay attention to membership and volunteers because that's been the lifeblood for us. So much else happens once you have active and lively members."
And when those "active and lively members" feel safe, they'll move on, hopefully, to organizing and attending fun, family-oriented activities.
The Cabbagetown group holds everything from open-air arts and crafts fairs to political candidates debates. Likewise, Mr. Weiser pines for the day when pickup baseball and basketball games, senior's walking clubs and a massive Midland Park garage sale are all his association has to think about.
"I'm willing to be the heavy-lifter to make that happen," Mr. Weiser promises. "What I ask in return is that [residents]be involved."
Another way to encourage involvement is establishing a website, as evidenced by the Cabbagetown group's http://www.donvalecra.ca, which has become a highly successful tool for residents.
The website for Mr. Weiser's association is currently in the planning stages. He hopes it will be a "conduit" for ideas and feedback and even a place to get help, whether that means arranging mail collection for vacationing Midland Parkers or snow shovelling for the elderly. In other words, it'll be an old-fashioned bulletin board combined with a suggestion box. In the meantime, Mr. Weiser has set up a Facebook page and an e-mail address: midlandpark@gmail.com.
Mr. Garrison warns, however, that there may be a bump-in-the-road with regards to representation. On his board, certain Cabbagetown streets have never been represented by members, the strong gay population doesn't have a face (as far as he knows), and it's sometimes difficult to attract new blood.
"You tend to get retired people because they have the time, the interest and the wisdom," he says, "but what's important is also to have a representation of young professional people."
Similarly, at the inaugural meeting of Mr. Weiser's group a few weeks ago, there were few visible minorities, which reflects poorly on the incredible diversity of this Scarborough neighbourhood. He fears the reason might be that newly arrived residents don't feel welcome yet.
"They may feel like they're moving into someone else's neighbourhood," he offers, which might explain why it's a less friendly place than the one of his youth. The solution, he says, is to give Midland Park itself an identity. "It doesn't matter where you come from, how long you've been here, what your religious persuasion or skin colour is - when you choose Midland Park, you're choosing a culture."
And if that sounds like a pipe dream, consider how futile it must have seemed in the Cabbagetown of 1967 to take on big developers' dreams for a forest of high-rise towers.
"Everybody wins when we all get involved," Mr. Weiser says.
Nine steps to forming a group
Mark Weiser, head of the Midland Park Community Association, says that "the easiest thing you can do to be part of the neighbourhood is say 'hello' to your neighbours." That sociability could lay the groundwork for starting a neighbourhood association. Here are the basic steps that should be taken.
1. Conduct informal polling via neighbourly chats to gauge interest.
2. Hold a preliminary meeting informing residents of your intentions.
3. Nominate an interim president and board.
4. Enact bylaws for the new group to show potential members you're in it for the long haul.
5. Create the position of membership director.
6. Have the membership director appoint one volunteer on each street to try to increase membership on that street alone
7. Charge a nominal fee to join the association. (In Cabbagetown, it's just $5 a year, but that helps pay for the website and for rental equipment needed for outdoor activities.)
8. Once problems such as break-and-enters, graffiti and other forms of vandalism decrease, find new ways to keep members engaged.
9. Plan activities that involve the police, city councillors and members of the provincial parliament. (For instance, Scarborough Centre MPP Brad Duguid is active in the Midland Park association.)
Dave LeBlanc